Control of internal-combustion engines



H. E. FENCHELLE.

CONTROL or INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 6. 1917.

1,318,368. Patented Oct. 14,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

J Inventor H. E. FENCHELLE.

CONTROL OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

' APPLICATION man use. I917.

1 ,3 1 8, 3 6 8 Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUGH EMILE FENGI-IELLE, 0F GENOA, ITALY, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM L. KANN, TRUSTEE, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONTROL OF INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

Application filed December 6, 1917. Serial No. 205,886.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, HUGH EMILE FEN- CHELLE, a British subject, residing at Via XX Settembre t/f, Genoa, in the Kingdom of Italy, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Control of Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for air starting, regulating and reversing internal combustion engines, especially those working on the Diesel system of ignition, and has for its chief object to provide a simple construc tion of controlling apparatus in which all the operations may beeifected through the adjustment of a single member.

According to this invention a cam member provided with two starting cam surfaces and a fuel regulating cam or eccentric is adapted to turn in either direction from a neutral or zero stopping position and at the first stage of its movement to admit the compressed starting air to the engine through either one of two air supply valves for forward or backward starting and to provide fuel supply for the preliminary ignitions, the fur ther movement, on ignition and normal driving taking place, first cutting out the starting air and reducing the fuel supply and on continuation gradually increasing the fuel supply to develop the power required. In the construction preferred a cam drum is driven from a controlling hand wheel through worm or other gearing, the said drum being provided, preferably at opposite sides, with two starting cam noses, set at an angle to each other and each adapted to actuate a starting lever through a small pivoted pawl on the lever which acts through a toe piece at one side of its pivot, so that the lever is actuated by the cam nose only in one direction of movement of the cam drum, the pawl turning around its pivot to allow the said nose to pass freely during the reverse movement of the drum. Two air supply valves are employed, one admitting air to the usual starting air valves for forward driving and the other to the valves for reverse driving, each supply valve being opened by one of the said starting levers.

In addition to the starting cams the said cam drum is provided with an eccentric or cam surface for fuel pump regulation, act

ing through a spring pressed lever on a slid ing rod connected to a regulating device on the fuel pump, the said rod being free to slide in the end of the lever against the pressure of a spring so that it can be inde pendently operated by the starting lever above referred to. The cam drum also actuates the reversing and regulating shaft controlling the duration of opening of the fuel spraying or injection valves, preferably through a toothed boss or wheel on the drum and a rack engaging a toothed wheel on the said shafts, which therefore turns along with the drum to actuate the fuel spraying or injection valve mechanism for stopping, starting, reversing or regulating.

In order that the said invention may be more clearly understood and readily carried into effect the same will be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a vertical section of an air control apparatus embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the irregular line IIII of Fig. 1.

A is the cam drum carried by the shaft A provided with the two starting cam surfaces or noses at a at opposite sides and with the fuel regulating cam M. B is a hand wheel controlling the drum through worm gear, consisting of the worm b on the shaft 5 and which meshes with worm teeth 12 on the said drum. C, C are air supply valves for forward and backward starting, each operated by one of the cam noses a or a through a lever D. E is the sliding rod for regulation of the fuel pump (not shown). F is the cam lever through which the rod E is operated by the cam of. G is the casing of the control gear.

The valves 0 and C are carried in the valve casing G forming an extension of the casing G, the valves opening one or other of the air outlet passages c, c to the central air inlet 0 which leads from an air reservoir under pressure sufficient to effect the starting of the engine. The two air outlet pipes 0 and 0 lead to different cylinders or groups of cylinders serving respectively for forward and reverse starting. For example, in an eight cylinder engine one of the pipes 0 would supply the starting air to four of the eight forward air starting valves belonging to the engine cylinders, while the second pipe 0 would supply the air to the other four starting valves serving for back wark starting, the starting valve cams being arranged accordingly. The air supply valves 0 and O are opened through their stems c, which project through the valve casing G into the lower end of the main casing Gr, where they meet the arms (Z of their respective levers D, on which arms are pivoted the small operating pawls d carrying the cam rollers (Z adapted to be operated by one or another of the cam noses a, a. As will be seen in Fig. 1 the lever D can be operated only in one direction by the cam nose (0 (or (4) since in the reverse movement of the cam drum A the cam nose would simply turn the corresponding pawl (Z around its pivot. In the forward operative direction of movement of the cam drum the nose (6 actuates the lever D shown in Fig. 1 through its pawl d, the toe piece (Z of which abuts against the arm (Z of the lever and transmits the movement due to the cam nose a through the arm (Z to the valve spindle and forward starting air valve C. At the same time the lever D effects the actuation of the fuel pump rod E through the adjustable collar 0 on the rod, the operation being such that. the fuel pump supplies the fuel injectors with a full charge, so that the engine may start rapidly. If the cam drum starts from zero position in the reverse direction the lever D of the forward air valve C is not affected by the cam nose a but the cam nose at operates the second lever and the reversing air valve C.

The fuel pump rod E is also operated by the lever F, the nose 7 of which rests upon the cam drum A at one side so as to meet the fuel control cam a a spring f keeping the lever end down on the face of the cam drum. The lever F actuates the rod E through the collar 6 on the rod and the sleeve f on the end of the lever, a ball in the sleeve permitting of angular movement of the lever while avoiding unnecessary play between the lever and rod. The rod passes through the ball, so that it can be lifted by the lever D during the starting operation independently of the operation of the lever F, the rod in this case being raised against the pressure of the spring e placed between a collar 6 on the rod and the end of the lever F. The rod is therefore normally pushed down by the spring so that the collar rests on the sleeve end of the lever F. The cam drum also operates the reversing and regulating shaft of the engine through which the fuel spraying valves or injectors are regulated in known manner, by means of the toothed boss (4 on one end of the drum, which gears with the rack H, this rack being connected to a corresponding toothed member on the said shaft so that the latter follows all movements of the cam drum.

The general operation of the starting and controlling gear is as follows When the engine is at rest the cam drum A is so situated that the starting cam noses at and a are at equal distances from the starting lever pawls (Z and are thus displaced angularly in opposite directions from the central Zero plane of the drum. That is to say, the dru .1 is turned through 90 from the full power forward running position shown in the drawings, so that the cam noses a, a are at the bottom of the drum. The fuel control eccentric or cam a is also in central position at the top of the drum, where it lifts the cam end of the fuel regulating lever F against its spring 7 so as to cut out the fuel supply to the engine, the rod E being held in its lowermost position by the pressure of the spring 0 The spraying or.

injection valve mechanism of the engine (not shown as it forms no part of the present invention) is also in inoperative position owing to the adjustment of the reversing and regulating shaft through the toothed boss (0 and rack H. On turning the hand wheel B, say for forward starting, the cam drum is rotated in the direction of the arrow 03 to bring the starting cam nose a against the roller (Z on the end of the starting lever pawl (Z, moving thepawl and lever D. The latter acts on the stem 0 of the forward air valve C and opens the compressed air supply through the pipes c and c to the starting valves operated by those cams on the distri bution shaft of the engine which are set for forward running. The other end of the lever D actuates through the stop 6 the sliding rod E controlling in any known manner the fuel pump independently of the fuel regulating lever F, so that the rod is moved against the spring 6 to cause the pump to give a large supply of fuel for starting purposes. On ignition taking place and normal running of the engine beginning, the hand wheel B is turned through a further angle, causing the cam drum A to turn and to move the starting nose a past the lever pawl d, allowing the liberated starting lever D to move back into normal position, the air supply valve 0 to close and the fuel pump to reduce its supply to that given by the fuel regulating lever F, which now rests upon a part (near the apex) of its cam or eccentric a which corresponds to minimum fuel supply and engine power. At this point the injection or fuel spraying valves will close early under the control of the reversing and regulating shaft adjusted, along with the cam drum, through the toothed boss (4 and the rack H while the fuel is delivered by the pump in small quantities in accordance with the short periods of admission. On continuing the rotation of the cam drum A the fuel lever cam or eccentric a allows the fuel supply to be steadily increased un til the desired engine power is reached.

To stop the engine the cam drum is turned in the opposite direction shown by the arrow y, causing the fuel supply to be decreased and then stopped, the drum A returning to its Zero or stopping position without effecting any operation of the air starting mechanism, since the cam nose a simply pushes back the pawl device 03 attached to the starting lever D without actuating the lever. For starting and driving the engine in the reverse direction the cam drum is turned from its zero position in the opposite direction to that employed for forward starting, 27. 0., in the direction of the arrow y, the general cycle of operations being similar to that already described.

ll hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. I11 starting and control apparatus for internal combustion engines, two air supply valves for forward and backward starting, a cam member having two starting cam surfaces and a fuel regulating cam surface, means for turning the member in either direction from a neutral position, and opera tive means leading to the air supply valves and the fuel supply, adapted to be actuated by the said cam surfaces which are arranged, on turning the said cam member from the neutral position, first to open the air valve and to provide fuel supply for the preliminary ignitions and on further movement of the cam member to permit the air valve to close and the fuel supply to be reduced, continuation -of the movement gradually increasing the fuel supply.

2. In starting and control apparatus for internal combustion engines, two air supply valves for forward and backward starting, a cam member having two oppositely acting cam noses set at an angle to each other, means for turning the said member in either direction from a neutral position, a lever for opening each of the air supply valves, and a pawl device on each lever adapted to meet one of the said cam nose-s, said device having means for operatively engaging said lever in one direction only of movement of the cam member.

3. In starting and control mechanism for internal combustion engines, two air supply valves for forward and backward starting, levers operating said valves, a cam. drum rotatable in either direction and formed with a pair of starting cam noses and a fuel regulating cam surface, a connection to the fuel supply under the control of the said cam surface, and means whereby said connection is also operated by an air starting lever independently of the fuel regulating cam surface.

a. In starting and control mechanism for internal combustion engines, two air supply valves for forward and backward starting, levers operating the said valves, a cam drum rotatable in either direction and formed with a pair of starting cam noses and a fuel regulating cam surface, each of said noses being arranged to operate one of said levers, a sliding rod controlling the fuel supply, a rod actuating lever meeting the said cam surface, through one end of which lever the rod may slide, a stop. on the rod through which the lever acts, a soringmaintaining the stop resiliently against the lever and a second stop on the rod against which one of said levers is adapted to act.

5. In starting and control mechanism for internal combustion engines, two air supply valves for forward and backward starting, levers operating the said valves, a cam drum rotatable in either direction and formed with a pair of starting cam noses and a fuel. regir lating cam surf ce, a gear wheel on the drum, a rack operated by the gear wheel and leading to the reversin and re ulatin shaft a b a Z:

of the engine, a connection to the fuel supply under the control of the said cam surface, which connection is also operated by an air starting lever independently of the fuel regulating cam surface.

6. In starting and control mechanism for internal combustion engines, two air supply valves for forward and backward starting, respectively, an actuating connection for each valve, a main controlling member having two cam portions each of which is adapted to actuate one of said actuating connections, means whereby said member may be turned in either direction from a neutral position, a fuel supply control member operatively connected to said actuating connec tions in a manner to actuate the fuel control member substantially simultaneously with the opening of one of the air supply valves to give a starting supply of fuel, said controlling member also having other means for actuating the fuel supply control member upon further movement of the main controlling member.

'7. In starting and control mechanism for internal combustion engines, two air supply valves for forward and backward starting, respectively, an actuating connection for each valve, a main controlling member having two cam portions, each of which is adapted to actuate one of said actuating connections in one direction only, means whereby said member may be turned in either direction from a neutral position, and a fuel supply control member connected to said actuating connections in a manner to actuate the fuel control member substantially simultaneously with the opening of one of the air supply valves to give a starting supply of fuel, said controlling member also having other means for actuating the fuel supply control member upon further movement of the main controlling member.

8. In starting and control mechanism, the combination of an air valve for controlling the admission of starting air to one cylinder or group of cylinders for starting in one direction, a second valve for controlling the admission of air to another cylinder or group of cylinders for starting in the opposite direction, a main control member, and means for actuating it in either direction from a neutral position, said member having a cam portion for each of said valves, a valve actuator for each valve and having means whereby it actuates the valve by movement of said main control member in one direction only, said main control mem-- ber also having a fuel supply controlling means, a fuel pump-operating member, and means whereby the opening of one of said valves operates the fuel supply-operating member independently of the first named fuel-controlling means, the latter acting upon further movement of the main control member and the closing of said valve.

9. In starting and control mechanism for internal combustion engines, an air supply valve, a cam member, a lever to be actuated by said member to open said valve, and a pawl device arranged to be engaged by said cam in both directions of its movement, but to actuate said lever in only one direction of movement of the cam.

10. In starting and control mechanism for internal combustion engines, an air supply valve, a cam member, a lever to be actuated by said member to open said valve, and a pawl device arranged to be engaged by said cam in both directions of its movement, but to actuate said lever in only one direction of movement of the cam, together With a fuelsupply-operating member also operated by said lever.

HUGH EMILE FENCHELLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

